This summer is expected to be the most hurricane season on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) annual forecast. Storms are becoming more frequent and intense. Weather forecasting is more important than ever.
Artificial intelligence is making the weather forecasting market more crowded. From hurricanes and tornadoes to wildfires and droughts, new technologies are revolutionizing the science and industry. Investors are seeing big opportunities, especially in startups.
New entrants to the field, such as Tomorrow.io, Google DeepMind and California-based Windborne, are using new technologies to detect weather phenomena — Windborne, for example, is using a new type of weather balloon.
“We operate the most comprehensive balloon fleet on the planet,” said Windborne CEO and co-founder John Dean, “and we also do AI-based weather modeling, so our mission is to help mitigate the most devastating aspects of climate change.”
Windborne's balloons can fly for weeks, but current government weather balloons can only stay in the air for a few hours and cannot reach remote areas.
“This means we can collect about 40 to 50 times more data per balloon, and we can collect data over the ocean and in underserved areas by launching from an easily accessible launch site and then flying over the ocean to collect data on an ad-hoc basis as needed,” Dean explained.
The balloons use satellite communications to deliver data in real time. Currently, 85% of the world's atmosphere lacks meteorological data, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Windborne's goal is to use its technology to fill this gap and cover the entire planet with fewer balloons.
Demand for data from governments and large enterprises is driving the funding: Windborne just closed a $15 million funding round with lead investor Khosla Ventures.
“The weather forecasting market is currently around $100 billion and it impacts almost every industry,” Sven Stroeband, partner and managing director at Khosla Ventures, said of the weather forecasting market. “It hasn't seen any major disruption since The Weather Company in the 1990s, which makes it a very attractive market for us.”
The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently said that extreme weather and weather uncertainty will be the biggest risk to businesses over the next decade, and Windborne claims its technology will enable forecasts two weeks ahead to be as accurate as two-day forecasts today.
In addition to Khosla Ventures, Windborne is backed by Footwork VC, Pear VC, Convective Capital, Ubiquity Ventures and Susa Ventures. The company has raised $25 million to date.
